Turkey Unveils Memorial Honoring Armenian Genocide Architect Talaat Pasha, Sparking Outrage

A new memorial in honor of Talaat Pasha — one of the chief orchestrators of the Armenian Genocide — was recently unveiled in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. According to Milliyet, the controversial ceremony was attended by Ankara’s mayor, who praised Talaat Pasha as a figure of honor. For Armenians around the world, this event is yet another painful reminder of Turkey’s ongoing denial of the Armenian Genocide and its continued glorification of those responsible for the systematic extermination of 1.5 million Armenians.

Talaat Pasha, a top leader of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), served as Interior Minister and later Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.

Under his direct command, one of the first modern genocides was carried out — a calculated, state-sponsored campaign to eliminate the Armenian population of the empire. From 1915 to 1917, Armenians were forcibly removed from their homes, sent on death marches into the Syrian desert, murdered in mass executions, or left to die of hunger and disease in concentration camps.

Talaat’s own written orders — telegrams uncovered and published after the war — offer undeniable evidence of his central role. These were not vague military decisions or uncoordinated acts of war, but clear directives aimed at erasing the Armenian people from their historic homeland. His name has become synonymous with genocide, and historians, genocide scholars, and countless testimonies from survivors all confirm his leading role in this crime against humanity.

After the Ottoman Empire collapsed, Talaat fled the country, avoiding arrest and trial. In 1919, an Ottoman military tribunal convicted him in absentia and sentenced him to death for his crimes. But instead of being brought to justice, he lived freely in Berlin, Germany, protected by Turkish nationalists and German sympathizers.

That freedom came to an end on March 15, 1921, when Soghomon Tehlirian — a young Armenian whose entire family had been killed in the genocide — assassinated Talaat on a Berlin street in broad daylight. Tehlirian’s trial gripped the world. The German court ultimately acquitted him, recognizing the trauma he endured and the truth of what had happened to the Armenian people.

For Armenians, Tehlirian’s act remains a symbol of justice when justice was denied by the international community.

The decision by modern Turkish officials to now honor Talaat Pasha with a public memorial is not only deeply offensive to Armenians but also a dangerous signal to the world. It sends a clear message that the Turkish state still refuses to acknowledge the genocide and instead continues to glorify its perpetrators.

While over 30 countries have officially recognized the Armenian Genocide — including the United States, France, and Germany — Turkey remains in denial, suppressing discussion, threatening those who speak out, and criminalizing efforts to teach the truth within its own borders.

The unveiling of this memorial in Ankara is not just a local event. It is part of a broader state policy that seeks to rewrite history, silence survivors, and perpetuate injustice. For the descendants of genocide survivors and the Armenian people everywhere, it is yet another wound — a reminder that over a century later, the crimes of the past are still being denied, and the criminals are still being celebrated.

In the face of this, Armenians continue to speak the truth, defend memory, and demand justice — not for revenge, but so history does not repeat itself.

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